


Black and Gold Scars

by LitheFider



Series: Not Quite a Total Eclipse of the Heart [2]
Category: Guardians of Childhood - William Joyce, Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Flashbacks, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Nightmares, Quicksand Week, Scars
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-27
Updated: 2014-03-27
Packaged: 2018-01-17 06:28:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 991
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1377298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LitheFider/pseuds/LitheFider
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Quicksand Week 3 - Prompt: Scars</p><p>A 'Guardian of Fear' redeemed Pitch is still haunted by nightmares of his past, and his counterpart Sandman is there to comfort him.  Both share a similar shaped scar on their bodies, from two very different traumatic events.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Black and Gold Scars

**Author's Note:**

> This ficlet takes place in the same verse as my fic ‘Not Quite a Total Eclipse of the Heart’ (like 2 years afterish). If you have not read it - all you gotta know is Pitch has banished the Golden Age fearlings form his body (with the help of Sandy/the other Guardians), has his memories of being Kozmotis back, and had a star child with Sandy, so he is a ‘redeemed Pitch’. Even so, he still gets nightmares (no humanoid is 100% fearling free, and hell Pitch has a LOT of things worthy of nightmare fuel in his past) and has the occasional insecurities and spells of depression.
> 
> PS - I suck at titles.

 ....  
  


 _E s c a p e d_.  
  


The cursed star had _escaped_ – fast and nimble the star pilot had evaded him even with multiple nightmare spears piercing the hull of his golden ship.  
  
Hissing, growling and seething like a bubbling caldron of tar. The blackness desired more sweet dreams. Its terrible maw parted and dripped with the hunger of a thousand fearlings.  
  
 _  
_ **** _THE TSAR. THE BOY WHO HAS NEVER HAD A NIGHTMARE._  
  
THE ONES WHO LOCKED US AWAY.  
  
HE IS NEAR.  
  
  
A battle across the expanse of space, ships clashing with star canons blazing. A moon ship disabled and plundered. Claws sunk into the moon dust, nearing closer and closer with increasing speed to their prize. Fangs gleamed and a rising tide of fearlings swelled like a rising tide of dark seafoam.  
  
A streak of light tore through the darkness, a cry, a piercing pain.  
  
  
 _Everything went wh i t  e -_    
  


\----  
  
“Ahhhhhh!” Pitch struggled and awoke, sitting bolt upright.  
  
Sandy had already been stirred by Pitch whimpering, but now he was fully awake, at least amid yawning. He sat up, and sleepily pet at Pitch’s arm. Pitch was clammy, and trembling.  
  
  
< Are you alright? > Sandy’s voice fell through the other’s mind like sand over chimes.  
  
  
Pitch breathed, rubbing fingers over his gaunt face shakily. He then looked down at his naked chest. There was the scar illustrating the result of the memory which the nightmare was based on. Nightlight pierced his heart with his moon lance, and threw him to Earth, pinning them both to a rock for a 1000 years. The scar had appeared after he’d been able to banish the fearlings from his body. It glowed faintly gold in its deep crevices from the light that now seeped from his cracked dark heart. A heart that still beat and could love again.  
  
“I’m alright,” Pitch replied, licking his lips. He relaxed to the bed and curled into his smaller counterpart, like his presence was what made it alright.  
  
Sandy was sad Pitch still had such vivid nightmares, even when sleeping next to the likes of him. The fearlings of his own being were strong and fed on his fears and doubts. With a past like his, Sandy could not blame him in the least. They could never _engulf_ him now, but they sure did voice strongly, and sometimes bring on the bad dreams.  
  
Pitch sighed deeply and clutched to Sandy tighter. He knew Sandy would never leave him now, and things were the best they’d been since he was a very young Star Captain…but that did not stop him from occasionally feeling how he did right then – guilty, anxious, and undeserving. Especially as his fingers ran over the scar on Sandy’s back. A reminder of his deepest moment of insanity, in his pit of desperation and lust for power - going after the one person left in the universe that truly loved him. If only Sandy had been able to crack his heart sooner, if only he’d recovered his memories sooner…  
  
< You might wake up Umbra, all this worrying. > Sandy told him, referring to their sleeping child, barely over 2 years old, in the nursery next door. The star baby was very sensitive to the feelings of their parents. While they fed on love, negative feelings could make them physically uneasy, like having a stomach ache.  
  
“I know, I am trying to stop…” Pitch whispered, giving a few more shivers. He was thinking in the back of his mind though how much he loved Sanderson and how he owed him everything. He listened for Umbra crying, and within moments sure enough, a soft whimper came from the nursery.

< I’ll check on them. > Sandy gave Pitch a kiss and hopped out of bed in his usual floaty fashion. A robe of sorts made from his dreamsand materialized onto his form.    
  
  
Pitch went back to running fingers over the star-shaped scar, feeling it’s rough texture in places, thinking about that night his dream illustrated. It was far more exaggerated in his dream, as dreams tend to do…or was it? He was still fuzzy on some memories, especially those of when he was the true Nightmare King sailing across the galaxy. His memories before that time were what came back to him most strongly.  
  
Sandy bounced back in on his little legs, symbols of showing it was okay flashing over his golden hair. Pitch smiled with relief. He crawled back into bed, robe melting away. Pitch grasped him in his arms and pulled him into his lap, nuzzling and kissing him affectionately. Sandy ‘giggled’ and ‘struggled’ against him. Pitch stopped when he came face to face with the scar on Sandy’s back. He pet over it, pressing his lips together.  
  
  
< Pitch, > Sandy sighed, knowing what he was thinking about.  
  
“I’ll never forgive myself,” He whispered, “You know that.”  
  
  
Sandy turned in his grasp to face him, sitting in his lap cozy as a plump cat. Pitch looked down at him with such mournful, light gold eyes. Sandy stroked his fingers over Pitch’s own scar, which very much matched his own in shape and size.

They didn’t need to have the conversation they had had many times before. Sandy would tell him he was crazy at the time, starving, desperate, mad. That he knew Pitch was taking his powers for his plan and knew he was not ‘killing him’ in a way that was _permanent_. That his heart was closed off and dark. Pitch would say he was sorry, that he wished he could do it over again, that even though he knew it wasn’t sane for many recent decades, it still didn’t make it ok. Sandy would agree and reinstate he forgave him.    
  


So yes they didn’t have that conversation right then, but Pitch all the same skipped right to the last bit, where he hugged Sandy close to him, whispering he loved him and would _never_ hurt him ever again.  
  
  
  



End file.
